Scotland … there are unintended consequences!

When Salmond first proposed holding a referendum during the current Scottish parliament, it was not going to be a simple in or out vote but a referendum that would allow the Scottish people to express the extent to which they would like a greater say over their affairs. There is little doubt that a referendum …

UK Politicians … not fit for purpose

We effectively have four Political Parties, not one of them has shown any signs of leadership that could bring the UK economy out of it's malaise. There is a singular lack of ideas, they trade in  platitudes and half truths. They pander to the media … just generally we have to say "They are not …

The time has come

to have a new look, at ourselves. All my life I have been proud of being English. I was brought up with a sense of fair play, to treat all people equally, to stand up for the underdog and above all to be honest. Today I read in the Sunday Times that Gordon Brown was …

Election Manifestos … The fun has just begun

With the UK election race now under way, we can say, that, the fun has just begun! The choices facing the electorate are fairly stark. Labour, with Gordon Brown's experience as the first theme to hit the news stands. Perhaps it's TV advertisement with a man walking down a dusty road to nowhere epitomises the …

What I find disturbing

The emergence and resurgence of Nationalism around the world. This lurch to the "right" may seem natural as we all seek to protect what we believe is rightfully ours during a time of economic turbulence. However, it started long before the credit crunch and all those things that have left people worried about their own …

Democracy … when is it democracy?

By definition Democracy is "Government for the people, by the people." In the UK we operate the "Westminster system" which is a winner takes all system, and results in a "political party" autocracy. We consider this strong government, but if we analyse it carefully we see that it is little different from a dictatorship. Yes, …

Politicians … should we fire them …

Or simply set fire to them? Me thinks its time to clean out the pig pen! While many of the issues being raised over the expenses of MPs sound very bad, the issue is really simple. Over an extended period of time MPs instead of sorting out their pay packages have resorted to giving themselves …

Who’s guilty … the bribers or the bribed?

Having just re-read my earlier blogs, I see, I left this question hanging. In the earlier blog my subject was dealing with the integrity of politicians … where I tried to show there is little difference between our first world politicians and those of the third world that we often smirk at. We have seen …